MMA veteran Vince Morales has spent a ton of time training with Merab Dvalishvili at Syndicate MMA. Both will be fighting for world titles very soon.
Vince Morales Training with Merab Dvalishvili
At United Fight League 5, ‘Vandetta’ Vince Morales will face Hunter Azure with the bantamweight world title on the line, this match is booked for August 30. To help get ready, ‘The Machine’ Merab Dvalishvili has been working with Morales to sharpen their respective skills. Dvalishvili is set to take on Sean O’Malley for the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 306 in just a few weeks.
Merab Dvalishvili is known for his relentless pace in the octagon. Against Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo, Dvalishvili lived up to his moniker ‘The Machine’ as he never stopped working for takedowns and was constantly aggressive.
Vince Morales spoke to LowKick MMA in an exclusive interview and explained what it’s like training with Merab Dvalishvili as they both prep for world title matches. He said:
“[He is] Exactly what you would expect after watching him fight—nonstop. He laughs a little more than he does in the fight. He’s a goer. We get a lot of good work in together. He’s one of my favorite training partners. We know it’s going to be a tough day, and we get in there and scrap. Thankfully, I only have him for three rounds at a time.
“I don’t know how he does it. I think it’s all mental. His mind is set on effort, and being tired doesn’t deter him. He gets tired, gets excited, and handles it. Everything he does is full of effort and intent. Even if he doesn’t get a takedown or throws the best punch, he meant to do it and put in full effort. That makes all the difference.”
Morales has remained unbeaten and put together an impressive four-fight win streak since stepping away from the UFC. With multiple world titles on the line, the Syndicate MMA gym is entering the gold season. Vince Morales added:
“We’re gearing up for the Syndicate Gold Rush. On August 30th, I’ve got Hunter Azure for the title, and then we’ve got Marab for the belt. Khalil is fighting Alex Pereira. So yeah, the Syndicate Gold Rush begins next week.”
Belal Muhammad came into UFC 304 as the underdog but he certainly didn’t look like it in the early hours of the morning in Manchester.
The welterweight title challenger largely dominated Leon Edwards to become the champion via a unanimous decision verdict.
After Edwards had already beaten top grapplers in Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, many assumed that he would have no problem thwarting the heavy wrestling approach of Muhammad, but this wasn’t the case.
Having been inside the Octagon with him for 25 minutes, a former opponent of the current champion saw this performance coming from him and successfully predicted it ahead of time.
During a recent episode of the Believe You Me Podcast, Michael Bisping was joined by former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns.
Burns is looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats next time out when he faces Sean Brady, both of whom whom were beaten by Muhammad during his undefeated run to the title.
“Durinho” revealed during the interview that he wasn’t surprised by what went down in Manchester and had in fact, told Bisping ahead of time.
After going through his messages, the former middleweight champion was able to find the message which correctly called that “Remember The Name” would get his hand raised on July 27 and how he would do it.
Bisping read the message aloud having asked Burns for his prediction, only to then forget to mention it during the live broadcast.
“Tough fight but I believe Belal’s going to make it a dog fight. I think that’s the only way for him to win and I believe he will do that. Randy Couture style dog fight. Inside dirty boxing mixed up with the wrestling.”
Read also: Stephen Thompson On Welterweight Star He Wants To Fight Instead Of Michael ‘Venom’ Page: ‘I Think People Would Boo That Fight’
Continue Reading Former Opponent Reveals That He Perfectly Predicted “Randy Couture Style” Welterweight Title Win For Belal Muhammad At UFC 304 at MMA News.
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Last week (Tues., Aug. 20, 2024), 25-year-old Torrez Finney picked up his second victory under the Contenders Series banner to improve to 9-0 as a professional. Unfortunately for “The Punisher,” he didn’t impress UFC CEO Dana White enough to earn a UFC contract. In fact, he was the subject of a negative tirade from White, who claimed Finney would “get absolutely decimated in the UFC.” He also blasted Finney for fighting just once in the year between Contenders Series appearances.
The point of the show may be to judge fighters, but it felt a bit harsh. Finney has a bit of hype online, and he seems like a reasonably talented Middleweight prospect. Now, Finney has revealed there’s even more to it than White claimed, as he explained that a potential spot on The Ultimate Fighter sidelined him for the first quarter of 2024.
“You know, I don’t think a lot of people know this, but I was selected to be on The Ultimate Fighter this year,” Finney explained to MMA on Sirius XM (via Forbes). “Whenever you sign The Ultimate Fighter contract, you are restricted from fighting during that time span. So during that time span in January, I couldn’t fight for January, February, March.
“So right when I was selected,” Finney continued. “Well, right when they made the selection, the day before they were about to take your phones — the head producer comes up to my room and says, ‘Hey, we’re going a different route. We’re doing the, um, country thingy, you know, everybody from a different country.’ They selected somebody else. I said, ‘Okay, boom. All right. It is what it is.’ They did that to me, and they did it to Yusuf Zalal. Yusuf Zalal turned around two weeks later and went out and fought on the UFC Fight Night against Billy Quarantillo. And with me, I had to turn around and go find a fight. Two weeks later, we found a fight. I fought in May, but the problem is, four weeks before that May fight, I got offered to be on the Contender Series.”
Finney accepted and won the May bout despite already having the Contenders Series offer in hand. It was a risk to gain experience as had been requested after his first win on the show, yet Finney doesn’t feel he’s being given credit for taking that chance. According to “The Punisher,” these circumstances make the logic behind White’s critique flawed.
“So a lot of that stuff that was said — like when he said, ‘I told you to go back and get more fights, and then you come on here with one fight’ — I feel like some of that stuff is a little bit flawed because, one, I don’t make the decision to be on the Contender Series,” Finney explained. “And then, two, I would have had more fights if it wasn’t for The Ultimate Fighter. And then again, I feel like there’s a disconnect because Dana has so much on his plate. I don’t think he knows everything that goes on within the UFC, so I don’t expect him to know that type of thing. But to say some of the things that he went out there and said without having the knowledge of it — I feel like some of that stuff is a little bit inconsistent.”
Hopefully, this bit of controversy doesn’t hold back Finney from a productive relationship with the UFC. Of course, he could alternatively attempt to follow the footsteps of Brendan Loughnane, who was dissed by White on Contenders Series and then went on to win a million dollars in Professional Fighter’s League.
Insomnia
Possibly the most exciting kickboxing alive is fed up with One Championship.
Chingiz Allazov to Vacate Kickboxing World Title: “I’m done fighting in ONE Championship” pic.twitter.com/xEhH9HDScg
— Timothy Wheaton MMA (@TimWheatonMMA) August 26, 2024
This was the exact moment I knew “The Leech” was going to get knocked cold. So slick!
Prates evades the the body shot of Li pulling back the pivots to his right off the jab while shoulder rolling Leech’s left hand. pic.twitter.com/pOn52Zmeb6
— Feño (@fenoxsky) August 24, 2024
There’s a reason most wrestling practices begin with cartwheels in the warm up!
I played this back a million times
The awareness to cartwheel to the back immediately off the landing is pic.twitter.com/46n35Dl3vd
— BJJotter (@JiujitsuOtter) August 24, 2024
Michael Bisping’s takedown defense was underrated for a long time. I’ll always remember his clinch defense surprising a Chael Sonnen at the height of his powers.
Michael Bisping Demonstrates How to Defend the Single Leg Takedown in MMA
@bisping pic.twitter.com/yNjN74vNNA
— Lock-In Jiu-Jitsu (@lockinjiujitsu) August 25, 2024
Robert Valentin gives Ryan Loder his props, and hopefully, we’ll see him receive a second shot inside the Octagon.
Robert Valentin responds to his #TUF32 finale defeat to Ryan Loder at #UFCVegas96 ️ pic.twitter.com/vXCIJzwrzA
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) August 25, 2024
Some variation of this happens every week in Russia yet doesn’t stop being funny. The table throw!
Russian MMA fighters started brawling before the face to face interview even began pic.twitter.com/V5Y2dbAUEm
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) August 26, 2024
Slips, rips, and KO clips
Switching up angles on the power hand:
MASSIVE RIGHT HAND AND THE SUPER NECESSARY FTW!!!
[ LIVE NOW | ESPN+ | #PFLPlayoffs | #PFLDC | https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI] pic.twitter.com/KBCgV4uFkE
— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 24, 2024
An absolutely nasty KO and great demonstration of hitting an opponent as they move to stand.
Luis Francischinelli with the knee and left hook off the break. DAMN. 4-0 all by first round KO #LFA190 pic.twitter.com/U2rWWBRB1K
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) August 24, 2024
Eduardo “Chapolin” Henrique is 13-2 with 10 finishes opposite quality competition. It’s time for the call up!
Chapolin defends the LFA flyweight title! #LFA190 pic.twitter.com/I7uSSsfx9Z
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) August 24, 2024
Random Land
There Will, indeed, Be Blood.
“I bet Paul Dano throws away scripts if his character doesn’t get beat up by page 45.” -Jordan Peele [fanvid] pic.twitter.com/s1GQ10GcIz
— Rizzo (@feralfeature) August 25, 2024
Midnight Music: Alternative, 1997
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
It’s been more than three years since we’ve seen ‘Mystic Mac’ grace the Octagon. His drought was scheduled to end on June 29th in Las Vegas, but McGregor ultimately bowed out of his UFC 303 headliner with Michael Chandler due to, of all things, a broken pinky toe.
Since then, McGregor has been lobbying for a date in December, but even more than that it looks like McGregor wants to be free from the shackles of his UFC contract.
Recently, the former two-division titleholder took to social media with a four-word post that had everyone speculating about its meaning.
“When I get free,” McGregor wrote on X.
McGregor also posted a training clip on Instagram with the hashtag #FreeTheMac.
Conor McGregor’s Comments come days after speculation over UFC 310 headliner
Interestingly, McGregor’s comments come days after newly minted welterweight world champion Belal Muhammad revealed that his first title defense could headline UFC 310 in December, the date McGregor desperately wanted for his rescheduled scrap with Chandler.
It’s possible that Muhammad versus either Shavkat Rakhmonov or Kamaru Usman—the two fighters heavily favored to get the first crack—could be situated as the co-main event under a McGregor vs. Chandler headliner, though no such thing has happened since 2016 when Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz main evented UFC 196.
The co-main event that night was Miesha Tate’s win over Holly Holm to capture the women’s bantamweight title.
Kamaru Usman has lost three fights in a row in the UFC but he’s still regarded as one of the best welterweight fighters in the world. Many believe he deserved to win his last fight against Khamzat Chimaev or it should’ve been a draw.
There are plenty of contenders in the UFC welterweight division for the new champion, Belal Muhammad. Although fans and the champion himself have acknowledged Shavkat Rakhmonov and Jack Della Maddalena as worthy title contenders, it is worth noting that Usman is ranked higher than both.
While talking about his imminent return to the Octagon, “Nigerian Nightmare” compared his journey to former champs Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski. He also revealed certain bitter truths about MMA fans…
Kamaru Usman Shares The Struggles Of Active Champions Like Himself, Israel Adesanya, and Alexander Volkanovski
Usman recently appeared on the Weighing In podcast hosted by John McCarthy and Josh Thomson. After claiming that he’s better than Muhammad in every department, the former UFC champ remembered how hard he worked at the peak of his career.
“I was entertaining and entertaining and entertaining was the thing for me. I didn’t care what I was going through. I didn’t care what I was dealing with. I didn’t care what I was battling physically, mentally, emotionally. Didn’t matter to me, I was going to jump in there and perform and perform and perform. And the same thing with Israel Adesanya which is why you saw ton of those title defenses and I’m sure Alexander Volkanovski, who also came out and expressed.”
Usman relates to Adesanya and Volkanovski because they were active champs as well. Like them, he sidelined injuries and ignored recovery to go out there and entertain the fans as much as possible.
The future UFC Hall of Famer admitted to benefitting a lot from his championship run. However, he called out fans who immediately turn on champions after they lose their belts. Without realizing how hard it is to maintain dominance at the top of the sport, people call former champions washed or question their legacy.
“Now, I’m in a place where, okay, with all of that comes a lot of injuries. All the things that you’ve been dealing with, it kind of catches up to you. And now I’m just in a position to, where I’m trying to heal all of that. Because you know, you stack up all these injuries over time and it starts to diminish your performances to where people start to forget just how good you are, just how much time you spent building your career, doing the things that made you successful to where they start, oh, he’s washed. Which is how disrespectful are MMA fans. How disrespectful are they, oh he’s washed, oh he can’t do this anymore.”
Such behavior naturally doesn’t sit well with Usman. Now that he no longer has the pressure to defend a championship, though, he looks forward to returning to the Octagon at his best and reminding everyone of his skills.
Read More: UFC Fight Night Results & Highlights: Caio Borralho Decisions Jared Cannonier
Continue Reading Kamaru Usman Compares Career To Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski Ahead Of Rumored Return Against Belal Muhammad: “How Disrespectful Are MMA Fans” at MMA News.
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